


actor / makeup artist (the breakup)

by anothersadsong



Series: snippets [8]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, actor / makeup artist, and a breakup, and getting back together, ooh the one with the jealous co-star AGAIN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 19:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17028525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothersadsong/pseuds/anothersadsong





	actor / makeup artist (the breakup)

It had been particularly difficult to leave Cassian’s bed when her alarm had gone off - he was lucky enough to have a day off, while she’d have her hands full making up what she had determined to be a metric fuckton of extras for a secondary accident scene that was the only scene on the shooting schedule that day. At the very least, she knew that she’d see him when her day was done, and that gave Jyn something to look forward to, as always.

Saying goodbye was the hardest it had ever been, Cassian watching her with dark eyes clouded with sleep, his voice deep and hoarse from disuse as he told her he’d definitely see her later - if she was lucky, he’d bring her lunch. Jyn just laughed and leaned down, meeting him halfway for a kiss. “You’ll be my lunch”, she promised, biting her bottom lip hard in order to stop a grin from spreading from ear to ear.

Cassian laughed, too, and flopped back down against his pillows, looking comfortable and so irresistible that Jyn nearly joined him. “Lunch”, she sighed, reluctantly forcing herself to take the first few steps toward stepping out into the morning sun. “It’s a date.”

He muttered something unintelligible in response, and Jyn rolled her eyes fondly. Hopefully by the time lunch rolled around, he’d be more coherent. And … open to spending that time doing something other than just eating. She couldn’t help the skip in her step as she made her way to the makeup trailer.

It was while she was working on extra #15 of 37 when her phone rang, and her life changed all in a mere few minutes worth of conversation. And while she still had her duties to see to, when lunch rolled around, she practically sprinted to Cassian’s trailer to tell him all about it - to celebrate the opportunity that she’d just been given.

Jyn knew that she had free reign to the trailer, but she knocked, anyway, bouncing on her toes as she waited for Cassian to answer, her excitement more than clear in her wide, green eyes, the way she couldn’t stop grinning, the adrenaline buzzing through her veins, making it impossible to stay still for longer than a few seconds at a time.

But when the trailer door opened and Jyn was faced not with her boyfriend but with a very disheveled maritza (the lead actress, who bodhi had been so kind to inform Jyn, had been shooting her nothing but death glares ever since she and Cassian had stopped trying to hide their relationship), all messy hair and cat that ate the canary smile, wearing the very same plaid shirt of Cassian’s that Jyn had worn to bed the night before.

“Makeup girl … “, she purred, seduction and triumph all at once tinging her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Cassian - “, she managed to choke out, her face betraying the fact that she was feeling betrayed and confused and livid and heartbroken all at once.

“He’s in the shower, honey, but if you want, I can tell him that you dropped by. Were you here for anything important?”

“No”, Jyn whispered, shaking her head, clenching her fists at her sides so hard that her nails bit into her palms, the pain helping keep her grounded, keeping her from doing or saying something that she would ultimately end up regretting. She had a few choice words for Maritza, for Cassian, too, but she swallowed them all down, swallowed the pain and anger and hurt down and away. Making a scene wasn’t going to do any good.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and forced herself to walk away as slowly as she could manage, just in case Maritza was still watching. Not that she would be, of course, she was clearly in the middle of other things entirely. Tears pricked the insides of Jyn’s eyelids, but she fought hard to ensure that they did not fall. She was better than this. She wasn’t going to make a scene, she wasn’t going to cry, she had been warned, she had known his reputation as well as anyone, she had chosen to disregard it all and trust that he wouldn’t do this to her, and now …

Now she had to pay the consequences for that decision.

~

Jyn hadn’t shown up for lunch. Which … was kind of understandable, given the sheer amount of work that Cassian knew that she had ahead of her for the day. But she hadn’t called, and hadn’t texted, either, and that wasn’t like her. Even when he was filming, she’d send little messages throughout the day just to let him know that she was thinking of him.

Nothing.

He didn’t have anything more pressing to do than study the same script he’d already memorized, deciding instead to walk over to the makeup trailer to check on Jyn and the progress she was making with her group of extras. He was not anticipating finding her station completely devoid of anything - extras, her supplies, herself. Surely, she would have told him if she’d been called to work on set instead of here?

He furrowed his brow as he made his way through the busy trailer to Bodhi’s side - Bodhi, who he knew was Jyn’s closest friend from school - Bodhi, who was staring daggers at him …

“I know you’re busy, Bodhi, but … do you know where Jyn’s gone? She was supposed to meet me for lunch, and she didn’t. Her … things are gone? I’m, uh - “, he chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. “I’m a little worried, honestly.”

“You don’t need to worry about Jyn, she’ll be fine”, Bodhi answered, his voice clipped, icy in a way that Cassian had never heard before. Usually, he was bright and sunny and friendly to everyone. What had changed? “Besides, you already seem to have found a suitable replacement for her, so, your concern is nice, but unnecessary.”

“… Replacement?”, Cassian asked, shaking his head, bewildered. “I’m not entirely sure of what you mean by that - “

“Look, she came to see you at lunch, but you weren’t alone. And it was pretty obvious what you’d been doing. And instead of staying here and having to face the both of you every day, she decided to take an offer elsewhere. She’s gone. She’s not coming back, and I don’t blame her.”

“I didn’t do anything, Bodhi!”, Cassian insisted, his raised voice catching the attention of the other artists, who all tried to listen in while appearing for all intents and purposes that they weren’t. “I swear, I didn’t - “

“Apparently, that’s not what it looked like.”

“… Fuck.”

~

For a week and a half, Cassian tried to get in contact with Jyn, only to fail at every turn. She wouldn’t answer texts. Every time he called, he was sent straight to voicemail. He didn’t know her address, and Bodhi wouldn’t tell him anything, no matter how close Cassian came to breaking down and begging. He almost hired a private detective before his better sense kicked in and he realized that that … would just make things worse.

His performances were suffering. His sleep was suffering. He was suffering.

And he was sure that Jyn was suffering, too, more with every day that passed and he wasn’t able to offer her an explanation as to what had really happened the day she’d walked away.

Finally, in a last ditch effort to prove to Bodhi (who he knew would tell Jyn everything), Cassian brought Maritza into the makeup trailer early one morning, when he knew it would be mostly empty, where she grudgingly admitted that she’d made up the entire encounter as a way of getting Jyn to step away from Cassian so that she could have a chance with him - the chance that was supposed to have been hers all along.

“We never slept together. He never touched me. He’s never been anything less than professional with me”, she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Professional and distant, even. I faked the whole thing.”

Bodhi didn’t say much in response, but he did show Cassian a text from Jyn relaying the information that she was going to be flying out of LAX later in the day, the time and gate number seared into his memory as he nodded his thanks. “Tell her not to go, Bodhi. Tell her not to get on that plane just yet. I gotta talk to her first.”

~

Jyn didn’t know why she didn’t just check in so that she could wait for her flight in peace. She didn’t know why she was even entertaining the notion of speaking to Cassian again. Wouldn’t it just be easier in the long run to go, and with time, heal her broken heart? She might never look back on their time together fondly, but maybe someday, it wouldn’t hurt so damn much every time she saw his face, whether it was on television, or online, or watching her with those eyes from the covers of magazines every time she went grocery shopping.

She waited, sighing every time she glanced at her phone, checking the time. Good thing she’d arrived with plenty of time to spare before her flight, otherwise she would have risked missing it completely.

She didn’t even know why he wanted to see her, or why he wanted to speak with her, why it even mattered at this point. Couldn’t he just leave well enough alone, and let her go? Why hurt her all the worse?

Jyn was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear her name being called from far away, didn’t notice Cassian as he tried valiantly to weave through the crowd as quickly as he could without simply bowling them over in his haste to get to her. But when he was standing in front of her, panting and wide-eyed and so desperately grateful to see her, she almost broke down all over again, only barely managing to hold her conflicting emotions at bay.

She wanted to kiss him senseless. She also wanted to knee him in the balls and leave him gasping on the ground. It’d be a temporary balm for her broken heart, but it would feel good regardless.

Eventually, she decided on staying right where she was, rigid and uncomfortable, and wishing that she was anywhere else.

“What do you want?”

Her voice was measured and careful, but there was no mistaking the tears that she tried to mask. And, not for the first time, Cassian’s heart settled in the pit of his stomach, certain that no matter what he said, and no matter how truthful he was, it wouldn’t be enough to save what they’d had with each other.

“I didn’t sleep with her, Jyn. Bodhi must have told you that Maritza made it all up - she was jealous of you, jealous of us, and she wanted to hurt you. I know that you have no reason to believe me about any of this, I - I know what my reputation is, but you know that I’m not like that. You know it, Jyn, I know you do.”

Jyn wavered a bit, but did not budge.

“Bodhi told me that you got chosen to compete on Face Off, and I know that it’s been your dream to do this for years, so … I’m not here to persuade you not to go. I’m here to tell you that I’m so proud of you and all your hard work, and I know that no matter what happens, you’re going to be great. I’m here to tell you that when you come back, I’ll be here waiting for you, if you’ll still have me.”

Jyn sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly, finally lifting her exhausted eyes to meet his own. It was clear then that this had taken an immeasurable toll on the both of them. If he didn’t care …

“I’m sorry that this happened. I’m sorry that she did something so crazy. I am so fucking sorry that you’re hurt. And I will do anything in my power to atone for this, if you’ll just let me.”

Cassian sighed then, shaking his head, swallowing hard. One last try before there was nothing left that he could say.

Softer, now, he continued. “I’m falling in love with you, Jyn, I can’t imagine my life without you and I don’t want to. This is not the difficulty that I anticipated us facing, but here we are. And I am begging you … please don’t leave thinking that what I feel for you isn’t real - “

He couldn’t continue, not after she lurched forward, breaching the gap between them, knocking the breath right out of him with how firmly she held him once she’d wrapped her arms around him.

“… When I get there, I’ll call you, we can talk some more. But I - I believe you. And … I feel the same. I don’t want to leave here with you thinking that I don’t. It’s … you and I … “

She stood up on her tiptoes, capturing his lips in a kiss that could only be called searing, uncaring of the fact that they were in the middle of a crowd, that they were out in the open, that there were probably photographers prowling around, waiting for a chance to capture a moment just like this.

The only thing that mattered was them. 

“We’ll be okay.”


End file.
